> On Wed, 24 Sep 2003 andrea@kernel.org wrote:> > > > It's because I grow up that I can actually better understand the deals> > it's in my own (again speaking only for myself and not for anybody else)> > interest to avoid.> > You've claimed this now twice. > > However, that only explains why you don't use BitKeeper. And everybody> accepts that. When I started to use BK, I made it _very_ clear that> service for non-BK users will be _at_least_ as good as it ever was before> I started using BK.

And for the core kernel development this is true. There are subprojectsthat are currently using BK that you can't even get the code withoutBK. And the only reason they are using BK is they are attempting tofollowing how Linux is managed. So having the Linux kerneldevelopment use BK does have some down sides.

In addition there are some major gains to be had in standardizing on adistributed version control system that everyone can use, andunfortunately BK does not fill that position. So I think it is goodthat there is enough general discontent it the air that peoplecontinue to look for alternatives.

The current situation with version control is painful. CVS branchespoorly and is not distributed. SVN is not distributed. ARCH isbarely distributed and architecturally it makes distributed merginghard. BK requires open logging which makes it unsuitable for workingon prerelease hardware. BK does not scale to the low end becauseto use it successfully you need to make non-BK releases which isan extra burden. Unless I missed something big all of the BK->foogateways are specific to a few source trees. And of course BK won'tlet you hack on a replacement.

I don't think the flame wars should stop. The current situation isnot half as good as it could be. And discussion is needed to get usthere. Even pure flames which accomplish nothing technical accomplishsomething socially by reminding people that there is the potential todo much better, and that the current situation is painful.

It is clearly not a solution to simply drop BK, that is even morepainful. To reduce the pain will take a combination of frustration,time, talent, and a bit of luck that has not happened yet.